How We Spent 14 Nights In Japan (With A Toddler!)

Ever wanted to know exactly what a dream trip to the other side of the world looks like as a family? It’s time to share exactly how we spent 14 nights in Japan with our two year old toddler.

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In November 2024, we decided to do something a little different and travel 14 hours across the world to (finally!) explore Japan. This has been a sort of far fetched dream in terms of travel for a long time but, after rupturing my Achilles in April 2024, we randomly decided that that was the right time to book quite possibly our most ambitious trip yet. Now, ordinarily, you wouldn’t really think Japan was that ambitious for a husband and wife who love exploring new countries but add in the fact that we were taking our two year old daughter Evelyn (two years and nine months to be precise), it was something that we weren’t 100% sure we could manage! Oh and Emma was, at the time, six months pregnant with our second daughter.

Our trip to Japan was certainly eye-opening in more ways than one. Not only was the country just as mind blowing as you expect, our daughter surprised us in just how able she was in adjusting to new cultures, new foods and a new style of travel. It wasn’t Evelyn’s first time abroad, we’d already visited Portugal, Cyprus and Montenegro by this point, but it would be her longest flight (14 hours in economy for anyone is rough…) and we would be constantly on the move between three cities; Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo with a special surprise trip to Tokyo Disneyland. Doesn’t that sound epic? I still can’t believe we managed it.

Whether you’re interested in what it’s like to travel with a toddler or not, I’ve covered everything we did in 14 nights in Japan so feel free to use this guide to build your own itinerary. We’ll be looking at the things that we did each day, cool places we ate and drank at and I’ll share some unseen photos from our time in each city. In any event, if you take joy in reading what real life travel is like, instead of scrolling past neatly curated photo sets on Instagram, and wanting to know what we got up to, you’re going to want to read on!

Oh, before we start, I hope you fully appreciate that we were first time visitors to Japan so I do not in anyway hold myself out to be an expert or have covered the ‘perfect’ first timers itinerary here. There are some very good blogs out there dedicated to visiting Japan. I will no doubt have missed ‘must-see’ places or not eaten the ‘right’ amount of Japanese food and made plenty of mistakes. What you will get though is pure honesty; what travel really looks like for a family of three who were able to get two weeks off work to make this happen!

This is going to be a long one so settle down with a coffee and let’s do this.

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14 Nights In Japan
With A Toddler

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NOVEMBER 2024
OSAKA – 2 NIGHTS
KYOTO – 4 NIGHTS
TOKYO – 8 NIGHTS

DAY ONE – ARRIVAL INTO OSAKA

Before we could really start to enjoy our trip to Japan, we had to survive two flights from Newcastle to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to Osaka all with a stress-inducing 55 minute connection. We arrived at the airport earlier than usual, around three hours before the departure time, tucked into breakfast and seemingly managed to get all the way to our seats without any issues. Seasoned travellers we thought, we’ve got this down to a tee! We even managed the connection and Evelyn took it all within her stride.

The flight to Osaka however was, quite obviously, going to be a different ball game. Economy + KLM is clearly not the best idea for long-haul and certainly something that I vow never to do again. 12 hours with little room to breathe let alone sleep. Sleep escaped both me and Emma for 12 long hours but thankfully Evelyn did manage a three hour nap to keep her from going stir-crazy. There are only so many times you can distract with screens, with snacks and with games before ultimately you have to accept you can no longer entertain a two year old! The flight was definitely on the limit of what we could sustain let alone our little one.

All was relatively okay as we finally began our descent into Osaka though the weather clearly wasn’t on our side. Turbulence hit with a vengeance and, with it not being long after breakfast was served, one man a few seats away couldn’t hold his vomit in any longer. The noise and the smell lingered before we turned our attention to Evelyn who suddenly didn’t look well, the smell probably tipping her over the edge, and she too began projectile vomiting over us. We tried our best to catch what we could with blankets and the plastic bags that housed the blankets. All of this as the plane was due to touch down and seatbelts couldn’t be removed. I think it was somehow a miracle that we managed to get Evelyn changed into clean clothes before technically arriving.

Welcome to Japan!

Now, once we had collected our baggage, it was just the small task of obtaining Haruka Express train tickets to Osaka Umeda before navigating the Osaka metro to our hotel. That was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. It took us almost an hour to find an elevator and exit Shinsaibashi Station! I know we were tired but come on!

It never felt better to finally check in and stretch out on our bed at the lovely Mimaru Osaka Shinsaibashi East hotel. I’ll no doubt come to review the hotel in a separate post shortly but, in brief, this hotel was a perfect introduction to spending time in Japan. It was great for families, Evelyn had her own bed on the bottom bunk, and within walking distance of Dotonbori yet without the all of the hustle and bustle.

Even though we landed into Osaka at 11:30am, we weren’t really ready to get out and do some initial exploring until late afternoon so we didn’t venture far; mainly experiencing the area immediately around the Dotonbori River. Finally we had set eyes on the iconic Glico sign – the Running Man – something that I’d been intrigued about ever since I met a fellow Fujifilm shooter in Melbourne in 2017 who said the iconic sign was one such place that I needed to visit.

Now, I wouldn’t say it was a shock or surprising as we’d seen the news articles and social media posts but it was so so busy! You could barely move so navigating a stroller, trying to find somewhere to eat and take it all in very quickly became overbearing. I think only those with young kids will let me off for this but we literally dived into a McDonalds and treated Evelyn to her first ever Happy Meal; in Japan of all places. We honestly felt like terrible travellers but the reality is you’ve got a two year old to feed immediately and it was a safe bet.

There’s only one place that we wanted to head next and that was to bed. Straight to bed. Straight to bed via Family Mart for late night dessert and breakfast. Obviously.

DAY TWO – OSAKA

Ideally we would have had much longer in Osaka but the three days at Disney had to be factored in so today, day two, was our main exploring day. After breakfast in bed, we hopped onto the metro to Morinomiya station to begin our longer than expected walk to Osaka Castle. The grounds of the park that surrounds Osaka Castle are lovely but there were a set of stairs so steep that nearly gave us a heart attack.

It took around 20 minutes or so to make it to Osaka Castle from where we took photos, the shot by the pond is probably the most famous but far quieter than I expected, and realised that the tips we read about in advance were actually useful. The queue to enter the castle was huge, and I mean huge, no way were we going to stand in that. We simply went on Get Your Guide, paid for two e-tickets which were valid immediately and walked straight into the castle. We felt like VIPs.

It was still busy inside the castle though the one way system did help to a point; once you were outside on the balcony at the top it was packed and slow to get round. However, it meant you had time to take in the awesome views across the city. Normally I love to get up high as quickly as possible when visiting a new city as it helps to get your bearings but I found with Osaka it was just so big it was impossible to work out what was where. The city sprawled as far as the eye could see. The castle was alright, a must-do when visiting Osaka, but it isn’t necessarily as good as you’d imagine – inside it’s literally just a modern museum which is interesting to a point but doesn’t quite capture the imagination of a two year old. We were however able to add two new stamps to our collection; one on the second floor of the museum and one at the information desk by the entrance.

It was a hot November day, clearly Japan didn’t get the Autumn memo, and we needed a little vending machine ice-cream kind of break in the south west corner of the Osaka Castle parkland. That got Evelyn right back on track!

With that first of many Japanese ice creams in our system, we carried on our day of adventure on the metro down to Shitenno-ji, a beautifully peaceful Buddhist temple which dates back to 593. This is Japan’s first Buddhist temple and is well worth a visit for a quiet wander around the five-storey pagoda. It’s only 500 yen to enter and definitely worth it. As it was a Sunday, we also had a little nose around the flea market that I’m sure I would have bought nearly everything at if it weren’t our first proper day in the country.

The rest of the day featured a lot more walking. From Shitenno-ji to the Shinsekai district with its iconic Tsutenkaku tower and retro vibe. We ate at Kushikatsu Janjan in a prime tourist location which honestly was decent though, if you read the Google Reviews, you’d probably never step foot in the place. There’s a charge of 300 yen for a side dish that they bring out and apparently it’s mandatory to buy a drink each; which obviously you’re going to do anyway, aren’t you? There was no English menu so it took us some time to perfect the Google Lens app before we ordered via the QR code. Mobile data is an absolute must-have in Japan. The food was alright for lunch, we all enjoyed ordering different skewers to try. Reviews on Google would have this down as the worst restaurant in Osaka but I would probably give it a 6/10 – but hey, what do I know! We probably wouldn’t return, there are of course so many different places to eat in Osaka, but it was there when we needed it and it served a purpose!

From Shinsekai we wandered through Nipponbashi, Denden town, stocked up on gashapon for Evelyn and grabbed fresh taikayi from Naruto Taiyaki Hompo – premium custard every time. Evelyn fell asleep in her stroller so we carried on walking to Namba Yasaka Jinja, a 12m tall and 11m wide lion headed shrine. The lion’s wide open mouth is said to swallow any evil spirits and leave you with good luck so you can succeed in business or school. Let’s digress here slightly and share that I swear I’ve been plagued with bad luck since visiting the Devil’s Marbles in Australia in 2018. Since my visit to Namba Yasaka Jinja, in November 2024, I have actually made significant progress with my own business, setting up a company and finally getting closer to my end goal of being self-employed. Perhaps visiting the shrine worked…

We ended the day with a pizza and a beer from Pizza Bar FullHouse, somewhere I’d saved in advance, which was good though we’d seen what would have been much better (and wood-fired) pizza beforehand and I regretted not trying to get a table there immediately.

First proper day in Japan done. Legs done. Feet done.

DAY THREE – OSAKA TO KYOTO

Day three started nice and early so I headed out into the clear blue skies for a photo walk. I wanted to make sure I had chance to capture the streets of Osaka with far fewer people than normal. It was a beautiful morning and I clocked up thousands of steps before realising I needed to retrace that early morning walk to drop our suitcases off with Yamato for same day delivery to our next hotel in Kyoto. It wasn’t just me though, it was quite funny to see tourists across Osaka doing exactly the same as me; struggling to control wheeled suitcases weaving in and out of taxis, bikes and people.

Once I’d dropped our suitcases off, we checked out of our hotel and began our exploration to the north with a few stops added in purely for Evelyn. It was her holiday too. We had planned a full day that took us all the way round to Osaka-Umeda station from where we would, all being well, simply jump on a train to Kyoto.

First up was Nakanoshima Children’s Book Forest; a beautiful library full of Japanese books that Evelyn absolutely loved. We couldn’t read a thing but there’s a lot that you can glean from a story with pictures and we had about an hour here sat amongst Japanese children and their parents looking through books and making up the stories as quietly as possible.

It was lunch time. It was hot. On Google it was only a 15 minute, 1.1km walk, across to a retro bakery that we planned to eat at. However, and I’m sure others will feel this too, every walk just seems infinitely longer in Japan. The streets are wide and endless and what was apparently just a 15 minute walk, definitely turned in to at least half an hour. A proper workout too with having to push Evelyn along in her stroller.

I was nervous when arriving at Cobatopan as I was expecting a huge queue of people but to my surprise, there was no-one there save for a couple taking endless portraits with the cute shop in the background. We grabbed a table and devoured the softest, sweetest and freshest sandwiches you can imagine. One filled with egg mayo, one with ham and cheese, one with breaded chicken and one, the cutest of all, a tiny ham and cheese one with little eyes on for Evelyn. Did she eat it? No of course not! She did however go all in for the same bread but filled with chocolate. Sometimes you have to take the losses and try again another time. The iced coffee was also much needed with this November (?!) heat. We also obviously paid 500¥ for a Cobatopan pin straight from their own custom gachapon machine. I’d highly recommend heading out here to this little gem of a bakery!

The next Evelyn based activity was at Kids Plaza Osaka. We ordered a taxi via Uber and headed straight there. Kids Plaza Osaka is a children’s museum/play centre packed full of informative activities (think Science Museum in London), role play areas and a massive play area in the middle. We could literally have spent all day here; probably a perfect rainy day activity in Osaka. It was however boiling outside and, whilst we didn’t have the strictest of itineraries, we knew we needed to be in Kyoto at some point.

Evelyn absolutely loved spending time here though, as we were finding pretty much everywhere, she was getting a lot of attention! Being bright blonde with big bright blue eyes meant that nearly everyone wanted to talk to her. The word kawaii was used non-stop. Anyway, we had loads of fun playing; on full-size metro trains, with musical instruments and bubbles. Lots of bubbles. Evelyn did have one injury, completely missing a step and going face first onto the floor but kids shake these things off pretty quickly.

Evelyn fell asleep in her stroller as soon as we left Kids Plaza and so our plan to visit Umeda Sky Building was up in the air. It was a long walk and Emma was starting to struggle, obviously given she was six months pregnant. We walked via the old-school Nakazaicho district, possibly one of my favourite little areas in Osaka, with quaint shops and buildings that don’t appear to have been modernised whatsoever. We needed fuel for our long walk and that came in the form of a flat white and a matcha latte from The Guts Coffee. Really, really good coffee perhaps thanks to its Australian beans! I’d realised already that Japan has such a cool coffee scene and I’d love to have had more time (probably in all of the cities we visited) just to scope out the best cafes and coffee shops. Maybe one day on a return visit!

Thankfully, there was no queue whatsoever at the Umeda Sky Building and, as soon as we bought tickets, we were on the skydeck within minutes. It may have had something to do with Evelyn being in her stroller though as we were whisked off to a private lift, with no queue, and brought straight up to the top of the building. I could get used to this. We spent the next 45 minutes taking in ridiculously stunning views across Osaka with the sun beginning to set out to the west. As Emma doesn’t like escalators, it was my job to test out the futuristic ‘floating’ escalators that take you up to the main floor of the building. Really cool.

Finally we made it to Osaka-Umeda station and the confusion began. There were delays pretty much on every platform even more so on the shinkansen tracks. It took a while to work out where we needed to be and thankfully a young Japanese lady came to our aid and helped us massively with which local train we needed to catch! It was a lot slower than catching a bullet train but we arrived eventually and jumped in a taxi to take us straight to our hotel; Hotel Forza Kyoto Shijo Kawaramachi. Thanks to the efficiency of Japan and Yamato Transport, our suitcases were waiting for us in the lobby to transfer straight up to the room.

I think we made it out on to the streets of Kyoto at around 8:15pm and we took a risk on tea at Katsukura Shiko Higashinotoin which closed at 9pm. We were very grateful for the staff being so welcoming even with a very tired toddler in tow. There was a kids cutlet set that came with prawn, pork and chicken, rice, juice and a Little Mermaid jigsaw that was exactly what we needed in that moment. Emma and I each went for one of the upgraded pork cutlet options which was absolutely to die for. The pork was so tender yet the panko breadcrumbs so crispy. The set came with tea, soup and rice and you had the opportunity to mix your own tonkatsu sauce with a mortar and pestle which was a great touch. This was a great meal and honestly it brought us all right down, mentally, after a tiring and in the end quite stressful day.

DAY FOUR – KYOTO

Thanks to KLM cancelling our return flight from Osaka to Amsterdam and, after a little back and forth, rebooking a flight from Tokyo to Amsterdam which met our original connecting flight back to Newcastle, we were able to spend an additional night in Kyoto. I had been anxious about only planning three nights in Kyoto as there were a few ‘do not miss’ sights that all were best seen in the early morning. That additional night meant we had three clear mornings in which we could spend time in Arashiyama, Fushimi Inari Taisha and the Gion District as early as we could wake our tired bodies and get a tantrum-prone toddler up and out for the day. It’s all well and could recommending that you get to each of these key locations super early but, with travelling as a family, that isn’t always humanely possible.

Luck however was on our side and we easily caught the two trains out to Arashiyama at around 8:30am. We arrived at the station at the end of the Kankyu line and had a short stroll through beautiful parkland and across the Togetsukyo Bridge that spans the peaceful Katsura River. It was a little disappointing to see that the trees covering the mountainside had not yet donned their autumn colours but you couldn’t really complain with such warm weather. Autumn had definitely not arrived.

As we had arrived so early, we (meaning I) thought it was a good idea to get in line for a coffee at surely the most scenic of the % ARABICA locations right on the riverside. The coffee shop opens up at 9am and, despite being there at around opening time, we still queued for…one whole hour…before we could finally sip our Kyoto latte and Matcha latte on the street outside. Even now, I can’t believe we waited an hour for a coffee. That is definitely not normal back home in England but we’re in Japan and people are more than happy to simply wait. The coffee was good but it wasn’t the easiest to enjoy when you’ve made your toddler wait for so long in the rapidly warming sunshine. Lesson learned. Oh and to make matters worse, I placed my empty coffee cup in the bin outside and, for some oddly mathematical reason (probably), the angle of the dropping cup hitting the floor of the bin caused the dregs of said coffee to splash out of the bin and straight onto a unsuspecting gentleman in co-ordinating cream linen shirt and trousers. I had to pretend I hadn’t notice. I would have offered to buy his coffee but the splash has minimal and what else was I meant to do!

The infamous bamboo forest was next and I think I could say it was as awe-inspiring as the photos you see online. It was relatively busy but I don’t think it had reached peak shuffle only speed yet. If only I hadn’t made us wait an hour for coffee as I think we could have managed a few photos with barely anyone around! This was a quick walk through from the Kameyama area of Arashiyama Park to Tenryu-ji; literally a few minutes save for time spent grabbing the all important photos.

We decided to head into Tenryu-ji, a lovely Buddhist temple with stunning Japanese gardens surrounding a large pond. We just paid for the entrance to the gardens and it was pleasant enough. Evelyn loved running around (quietly I might add) but clearly she was never going to be interested too much in a temple. I did however step into the world of collecting goshuin, original hand-painted ‘stamps’ from shrines and temples that were entirely unique to that which you had visited. Whilst you can’t take photos during the act, it was mesmerising to watch the way these skilled artists create the hand-brushed calligraphy. An attendance record like no other!

We came out of the temple gardens at the east entrance and decided to head to the JR line station, Saga-Arashiyama, to get us closer to the next place on our list. As we were walking, we did spot some of the maple trees whose leaves had began their transformation to deep red and auburn. Whilst ordinarily I’d never be able to shake off the disappointment at missing out on the best of the autumn colours, I was just happy enough to have had the opportunity to visit Japan in the first place! Even now, it’s still mad to think that we managed such a trip with our little one and the overwhelming feeling I get when I look back is joy. Mostly joy – I guess you always block out the tantrums hey!

Lunch was a glamorous affair. Egg sandos and tuna mayo onigiris on the floor outside of a 7/11. Now that’s what we came here for! I do agree with many other visitors that it just feels different in Japan, like that is a bucket list kind of experience, but back home there’s no way you’d find me sat on the floor outside a Tesco express chomping on a ham sandwich. You’d probably think I was homeless and asking for change.

From just outside Emmachi Station, we ordered an Uber (so worth it FYI especially in Kyoto) to take us up to Kinkaku-ji. Of course, just as the taxi driver pulled up, Evelyn needed a wee so back into the 7/11 it was and, of course, someone went to the toilet first and took their time. There’s me awkwardly standing next to the main road repeating ‘soon’ to the polite driver waiting ever so patiently.

Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavillion, was definitely a highlight for me. It was so incredibly beautiful. The one-way walk would have been lovely if it weren’t for the loose gravel and steep rocky steps and for the fact that Evelyn fell asleep in her stroller. I can only imagine how difficult Emma found it trying to help me carry an almost three year old flat out up steep steps. We’re not really the sort of travellers that linger long at any given place. I’m not sure what others do but there’s only so long you can take in the sights. A stunning building it is, stunning surroundings they are but it really didn’t take us long. We did take our time to get our omikuji (a fortune that tells you how much luck you will receive) though apparently we didn’t take enough time as we missed the English versions and both got ours in Japanese; we asked a nearby stallholder to help us decifer what the shrine had given us. Emma apparently received the ‘big amount of luck’, the top one, you couldn’t get any better we were told! Mine was said to be a decent amount of luck but it wasn’t as good as Emma’s so I guess there’s room for improvement.

As Evelyn was still fast asleep, we treated ourselves to ice creams; matcha and vanilla soft serve. Evelyn still didn’t wake up even with the smell of ice cream (I swear toddlers have a sixth sense anytime you try and sneak a treat in) so we decided to let her have as good a nap as possible by walking the 2.5km back to Emmachi Station. Now I will say it was very hard work especially as we though the stroller had completely broken. We spent most of the walk trying to figure out how we could get a decent enough replacement or whether we could manage without moving forward (obviously we couldn’t) but, fear not readers, just as we made it onto the platform I realised that the brake had been on the entire time. Read that again. I had just pushed a stroller with Evelyn fast asleep for nearly 3km, about 40 minutes, with the brake on. Every second was a complete struggle, an absolute nightmare but the fix was simple. Jamie, just unclip the brake.

My feet were on fire by this point and I had a raging headache but we stayed strong to ensure our rough plan for the day stayed on track. We made it to the Kyoto Railway Museum for a look round the various different models of trains, observe many bullet trains leave Kyoto Station bound for distant destinations and a good play on the train themed play park. I’ve never seen Evelyn so happy to shoot out of the nose of a bright yellow bullet train.

It was yet another Uber back to the hotel for a freshen up and tea at Goichi Pizza which served up super fresh wood-fired pizza, beer and a member of staff (perhaps the owner) treating Evelyn to a tune on his accordion must to the delight of the other diners.

DAY FIVE – KYOTO

Day five started much the same as the previous day. Up nice and early, breakfast in bed with konbini supplies before catching a train, this time south to Fushimi Inari Taisha; the extremely famous Shinto shrine featuring over a thousand bright red torii gates. Our journey there was delayed slightly by the rush of jumping on a train you swear is the right one only to quickly learn that it’s an express train and, save for the next stop, that train is heading straight past Fushimi-Inari station and onwards to Kyoto. Quick, get off. Are you definitely sure asked Emma? Nope but better to get off and work it out later! Thankfully, the correct train was immediately behind and we instead jumped on that and saw the familiar faces of tourists presumably heading exactly where we were.

As we made our way up towards the shrine, it was getting busier and busier. The first section of torii gates was absolutely manic, just shuffling along but, as we made our way up Mount Inari, the crowds very quickly thinned out which allowed us to really take in how impressive the surroundings were. We didn’t head all the way to the top as we had little legs with us but there were plenty of photo opportunities that weren’t ruined by excess crowds. I honestly have no idea why it quietens off so quickly as there is so much more to see than the initial one way section. If you did just that, out and back, you’d be done within 10 minutes even with walking at a snails pace.

Back to the Gion District in time for lunch and it was sweet treats at Panel Cafe that took our fancy. The queue didn’t look long when we joined but it still took an hour. Japan seems to love waiting an hour for a table. I have no idea how Evelyn didn’t kick off; her good behaviour sparked conversation with other travellers who had left the kids back at home in France!

Panel Cafe is well renowned it seems for incredible fluffy pancakes and I found the cafe recommended over and over again no matter where I researched. I’ve already mentioned the wait time but I think the food was just about worth it. Once it’s finally your turn to enter the cafe, you have to order immediately which makes it feel a little rushed though you do obviously get an entire hour to look through the menu! The interior of the cafe was lovely and, if you’re lucky, you’ll get shown to a table on the balcony overlooking the Shirakawa Canal just off the huge Kamo River. We were shown to a booth in a quiet corner which suited us perfectly. I went with the matcha pancakes that was as much theatre as delicious; surely every order of pancakes I get now should allow you to create your own slow-mo droop as the topping covers the pancakes. Emma went with the Caramel Banana pancakes and Evelyn with the chocolate soft serve topped crouffles; that is a crossiant shaped and cooked like a waffle! Honestly, if you love your sweet treats you will love Panel Cafe. For the coffee lovers, I can vouch for the iced coffee too.

We needed a lie down after all that food so we headed back to the hotel for a rest though not without wandering down Pontocho Alley (quiet during the day) and a quick shop at the Disney Store as well as Kyoto’s Nintendo Store. You can’t visit Japan and a Nintendo store without grabbing something so we got Evelyn a little Princess Peach soft toy and crossed our fingers only to end up with a Gamecube controller gachapon. Not the N64 controller one I would have liked though a couple after us spent presumably ALL of their remaining Yen only to fail in their quest too.

Eventually we decided that we had to leave the comfort of our hotel room again and so we made the short walk to Nishiki Market for tea. Evelyn had a quick nap allowing us to treat ourselves almost immediately with chicken skewers only to find that the chicken was completely raw. When I say raw, I mean completely uncooked in the middle so we didn’t waste any time in throwing those away. For some reason and I’m still very confused when I think about this, I went in for a second bite savouring at least the wasabi before throwing it in the bin. Thankfully, I wasn’t sick.

There weren’t as many food & drink options available as I imagined in Nishiki Market. I’d watched videos of travellers spending say, for example, $20 in total on all manner of foods. It was probably due to me not fancying quite a lot but I was a bit disappointed overall. We still tried freshly fried prawn tempura and fried wagyu beef and pork black gyozas – now they were incredible.

After walking the entire length of the market, it was straight to the Pokemon Center for more retail therapy that the 12 year old in me (let’s face it also 35 year old me) absolutely loved.

We needed a quick tea for Evelyn once she woke up, as she missed out entirely on Nishiki Market (though she wouldn’t have eaten anyway I’m sure), so it was back to McDonald’s for a Happy Meal and a Grimace milkshake.

DAY SIX – KYOTO

This was our last full day in Kyoto and our last morning at the Forza Hotel so we spent a little longer in the room packing up and arranging for our suitcases to be sent direct to our next hotel in Tokyo. That was actually really straightforward with the hotel staff being so helpful. Our suitcases would be waiting for us in Tokyo the following day. This was very much worth it as we really didn’t want to try lugging all of our baggage onto the bullet train!

We had one additional night in Kyoto at Hotel The M’s Kyoto just a few minutes walk from Kyoto Station so that, once we had our tickets for the shinkansen to Tokyo in the morning, we would easily be able to get to the station with no issues.

However, before we crossed town, we spent the morning exploring the Gion District fuelled by a drip coffee from Kyoto Coffee. The Gion District is the most traditional area of Kyoto and, because of that, it’s also the most popular. The photos you see and stories you read about just how busy this area gets don’t do it justice; this place is packed. Trying to navigate with a stroller and get up and down stepped areas was very difficult!

The views of Hokan-ji (the Yasaka Pagoda) really are stunning and, with some clever angles, you can capture an iconic shot of Kyoto without the crowds. If you’re after a portrait, people free, you’re going to have to get here super early!

Kiyomizu-dera was our main destination for the day; a stunning Buddhist temple on the mountainside. The wooden Main Hall dates back to 1633 and is best viewed from a platform looking back towards Kyoto; another iconic Kyoto shot. The platform as I’m sure you can imagine is extremely busy so you will need to do a little bit of jostling to get a good spot.

Thankfully, the route around the temple and grounds is one way. The route takes you through woodland before looping back to the entrance ready for you to tackle the narrow streets and the crowds.

We walked as far as possible before jumping into a taxi to take us to Weekenders Coffee; a cool little spot at the back of an urban car park. We perched outside with one of the best flat whites from across the trip. A ten minute refuel stop that was much needed.

The remainder of the day was easy going. We wandered from Weekenders Coffee to Traveler’s Factory finding ourselves falling in love with whatever area of Kyoto this was. Lots of cool independent stores and a bagel shop where we had lunch and stocked up with supplies for the days to come. We kept on walking and walking until we found the Face House, yes actually a building designed to look like a face!

Admin was complete by early evening, we had our bullet train tickets for the morning, we’d checked in to the new hotel and we had katsu curry at CoCo Ichibanya. This was actually one of Evelyn’s favourite meals, she couldn’t stop eating the rice and curry.

DAY SEVEN – KYOTO TO TOKYO

The time had finally come to make our way to Tokyo. I was certainly daunted by the prospect of exploring Tokyo given just how big the city is and, now we were showing signs of slowing down with tiredness, I knew we’d end up missing a fair chunk of what we wanted to do. Probably the better way to say that is that I knew I had actually saved far too many locations on my Google Maps and there was no way anyone could see all of it without spending a good few months in Tokyo.

It felt surreal to board the shinkansen knowing that we were about to reach Tokyo in just 2 hours. With a toddler, the journey will never be the most comfortable as we only had two seats between the three of us. There was a surprising amount of room though so Evelyn could easily stand up between us on the floor when she wanted to stretch her legs. I indulged in Ekiben (a combination of the words for train station and bento box) for a mid morning snack; spicy chicken and rice. I do really wish that we’d picked up the Children’s Ekiben housed in a Doctor Yellow shinkansen container. That would have made a cool souvenir even if Evelyn didn’t eat anything!

Thankfully the weather cleared up nicely as we got closer to Mount Fuji and then, as we came out of the darkness of a tunnel, there the mountain was in all its glory minus the infamous snowcap. Evelyn still talks about those few minutes in which we couldn’t take our eyes off the mountain. “Will we go to in Japan again and see Mount Fuji?” – hopefully! If there is a next time we will definitely aim to spend a few days much closer to its base.

At around 11am, we arrived in Tokyo and for some strange reason I immediately felt overwhelmed. Perhaps the sheer amount of exploring still to do weighed heavy on me and I quickly had one of those headaches that will only shift with an Anadin Extra. Only, I thought I had left them in the suitcase and definitely didn’t have a brand new packet in my backpack…

That pretty much ruined my afternoon as we headed straight from Tokyo Station to Shibuya on the Yamanote Line to head straight up to Shibuya Sky. It had been a nightmare trying to secure a ‘close enough to golden hour’ slot and I was really disappointed that I felt so sick up there! We still managed to spend around an hour admiring the sheer scale of Tokyo and hoping for a peek of Mount Fuji on the horizon. I willed every part of me to stay a little longer but Evelyn was playing up, the fake grass helipad proved to be the perfect area to test out some sprinting. Her ears were definitely turned off the entire time we were there. We all ended up stressed, still had to find our way to the hotel before darkness set in and I really didn’t want to try and squeeze on to the Yamanote Line again as it was getting extremely busy. Google Maps really helped us out on that occasion as we were able to jump on more of a local line that went out towards Tokyo Disney Resort before we could switch back onto the Keiyo JR Line that would take us back towards Tokyo Station and to our hotel. It was so quiet. Another example of when having mobile data is invaluable – I used an e-sim from Holafly which worked perfect throughout our stay.

It felt incredible to finally check in to MONday Apart Premium Ginza Shintomicho and change our plans to head out for food within walking distance. We took a chance on a Nepali and Indian restaurant, Sristi, we’d passed earlier in the basement of what seemed to be an office building straight from the 1970’s. Japanese salarymen occupied an entire side of the restaurant with the beers seemingly never-ending. As soon as our curries, naan bread and rice came I instantly felt better and perked right up! This kind of trip is obviously extremely tiring both physically and mentally so we did expect that some days we just wouldn’t be feeling up to it. We vowed to start again tomorrow and take it a little easier. Maybe.

A detailed review of our stay at MONday Apart Premium Ginza Shintomicho is here.

DAY EIGHT – TOKYO

Our plan to take it easy started off well as we decided to take a taxi straight to Yurakucho Station which meant that we could get straight onto the train that, in 40 minutes, would take us to Yoyogi Station and the start of our morning meander through Meiji Jingu. It also meant that we could have a peek in the Tokyo International Forum to admire the architecture and save our legs from adding in another train and an extremely long walk through Tokyo Station just to transfer lines.

We entered Meiji Jingu from the north so that we didn’t have to double back on ourselves and we could carry on our journey through Harajuku to Shibuya. Meiji Jingu was beautiful in every sense of the word. The way the light filtered through the trees, the opportunity to watch a Japanese wedding and finally seeing the wall of sake barrels that, for me at least, seemed to signal to my brain that we’d finally made it to Tokyo. It was simple, nothing necessarily too special, but my brain kicked back into gear and found some extra energy. I’m not really sure why I’m the one moaning about energy (but my feet did hurt) given that Emma was six months pregnant and soldiering on as was Evelyn (though if I had a stroller I’m sure I would too).

We soon entered what was to be my favourite area of Tokyo, Omotesando, though only after a floor by floor exploration of Kiddy Land. This is Japan’s premier retail experience (maybe, I don’t know) for all manner of toys and of course we ended up spending quite a bit on more soft toys.

Omotesando was full of cool cafes, bakeries, stores and places to eat. This felt like us. Despite all of the inviting restaurants and bakeries that we passed, we’d already planned to eat at Jennifer Seven and its retro diner out back. I couldn’t come all the way to Japan and not try and find the best burger joint. I’m not saying it’s the best place for burgers in Tokyo (that would be impossible) but Jennifer Seven really impressed me. The Japanese have what appears to be an obsession with post-war America and it made for a pleasant if not unexpected surprise.

It was an Old School Double Cheese Burger (thick mince patties, cheese, pickles and ketchup) and sweet potato fries for me and the same, but smaller and with normal fries, for Emma. Evelyn had a little chicken burger and we also couldn’t resist ordering fried chicken, milkshake for Evelyn followed by sweet treats. I really wanted to try sweet treats from The Little BAKERY Tokyo so just imagine how happy I was when we realised that the desserts here were baked across the road at the bakery; New York Cheesecake and Brownie topped off an incredible meal.

Whilst we were definitely full up from all the food, we still had room to try the unique Iyoshi Cola which creates its own spice blends to make their cola. The syrup is mixed with soda water and served in a plastic pouch for you to drink immediately either in store or on the street outside. Prepare to be surprised when you first taste this cola, it’s unlike anything you’ve tried before. We went with the standard ‘Dreamy’ flavour and it was spicy as in warming, medicinal and so different tasting. After the initial shock, it was addictive and I ended up really enjoying it!

Whilst we had watched the swathes of people crossing Shibuya Crossing from above, it was now time to experience the madness of the world’s busiest crossing. I don’t think it was at full capacity when we crossed, estimated at like 3,000 per crossing sometimes, it was still manic and took some effort to weave in and out of people coming across in the opposite direction. One big tick in the Japan bucket list there!

Back home, Evelyn had dropped all of her naps but the stroller was becoming her place of sanctuary where she could have a few hours sleep every day. I think the amount of sleep she had just about kept her from being overwhelmed and descending into chaos! Evelyn fell asleep again after Shibuya Crossing so we decided to scout out Mikkeller Tokyo for a beer. I would have loved a branded glass to bring home with me but it wasn’t to be, the beer was of course pretty good though and it was nice to relax for a bit technically child free.

The plan was to head to Shinjuku after dark and we ended up walking what felt like half way there as it just made sense whilst Evelyn was flat out. From Mikkeller, we walked to Yoyogi-Hachiman Station and caught a quiet train up to Shinjuku for some bright neon lights, Yodobashi Camera Store and tea from Family Mart. We definitely weren’t going for the nightlife and thankfully all the girls on the street touting their bars left us well alone.

Shinjuku was a bit too crazy for us and probably far too ‘touristy’, I don’t know if that’s the right word but it really wasn’t the place we’d hang out for any longer than we did. We had a wander around, saw the 3D cat billboard, Godzilla and captured some cool shots of the neon lights and then we were gone!

DAY NINE – TOKYO

Today was going to be a good day! We were finally heading to Disneyland and me and Emma just couldn’t wait to surprise Evelyn. We checked out early but left our bags at the hotel so we could collect them later and jump on the train straight down to the resort.

The main area we wanted to check out was Akihabara and the inner geek in me loved it from the second we got out of the station. We ate Magikarp taiyaki, spent far too much ¥ on claw machines but did win a huge Chansey soft toy, bought a Pocket Monsters Red cartridge (Retro Game Camp), bought a Japanese shiny Charmander and waited ages to try and spot 3 trains at once on Hijiri Bridge (we didn’t).

For lunch we headed back to the Tokyo Station area though we were already tired so didn’t do as much wandering as we probably should have. The plan was to eat at The Front Room Deli in the Marunouchi Building but the queue was huge so it was downstairs to Bread Espresso where we each took turns to eat our lunch as Evelyn had a tantrum. I think it was over ice cream. Definitely ice cream. The milk loaf sandwich and flat white were both lovely but it’s hard to enjoy anything during a toddler meltdown. Eat as fast as possible and get out; toddler extraction time.

Eventually Evelyn settled in her stroller and, guess what, she fell asleep and stayed asleep for a good few hours. It meant we had to keep walking so it was through to Ginza (we abandoned the idea of shopping the 12 floors of Uniqlo) and all the way back to the hotel to pick up our bags.

Whilst we had treated ourselves to the Vacation Package to cover our 3 days / 2 nights at Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea (and with unlimited access to Fantasy Springs and all its rides!!), we knew it would be so much easier to stay ‘on-site’ the night for logistics, to add to the Disney experience and so we could get Happy Entry (earlier access to the park).

So it was to the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel that we went to spend our first night at the happiest place on earth. Evelyn was blown away and kept asking why there were so many Mickey and Minnie’s – just you wait and see! The view out of our hotel room was towards the park and we surprised Evelyn by showing her Cinderella’s Castle just over the top of the monorail. Evelyn absolutely loves Disney and I’m sure the age she was at the time, almost three, was perfect for visiting Disneyland. Emma still remembers her first trip to Walt Disney World at around the same age and now, some six months later, Evelyn still can tell you exactly what rides she went on, the particular reason why I missed just one ride and recalls with near perfection everything that we did.

We jumped on the monorail to head across to the Miracosta Hotel to collect our Vacation Package (full of paper tickets for everything) before having tea at Outback Steakhouse in the resort area. I know I know, we’re in Japan but it had no queue and it was full of kids. Plus, who can say no to a bloomin’ onion?

The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel was on a scale that only Disney really know how to do. This was grandeur on another level. Our room was also really decent, old-fashioned in design, full of Disney references, obviously, and so comfortable. Bedtime.

DAY TEN – TOKYO DISNEYLAND

Today was the day that we finally got to experience Tokyo Disneyland. I’ve been to Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World before but this was the first time that we have been as parents; there’s something incredibly magical about seeing your child’s face light up with pure joy all day long.

As we had booked the Vacation Package, we had one day at Tokyo Disneyland followed by two days at Tokyo DisneySea. We had fast track passes that we had to book at the time of purchase (a long time ago!), fast track passes for a few rides of our choice at any time, unlimited free drinks and some other cool things like a limited edition popcorn bucket and Mickey soft toys. The first day of DisneySea also included a Fantasy Springs Passport which, in November 2024 at least, allowed us unlimited access to the brand new area with a Frozen ride, Rapunzel ride and Peter Pan rides. Whilst anyone can access Fantasy Springs now and queue up for the rides, we felt like VIPs at the time not having to worry about trying to purchase a priority pass which meant you could enter the area.

Anyway, I will keep it brief here as I plan to write a separate summary of our three days at Tokyo Disney Resort.

Tokyo Disneyland follows the same layout and concept as all other Disneyland parks around the world so nothing here will really surprise you though there are some neat additions that you have to experience. The number one highlight was the Beauty and the Beast ride that features a transformation from Beast to Prince in front of your very eyes that I still have no idea how it works! Other highlights were the Baymax ride, meeting Mickey, the afternoon parade and Splash Mountain. Yep, me and Evelyn went on Splash Mountain that was equal parts hilarious and insane at the same time. Sorry Evelyn! We also managed to get a hand cut silhouette of Evelyn’s side profile which remains one of our favourite purchases from the park!

Once we’d caught the last of the fireworks, we made our way to check in at the Hotel Miracosta where we would be staying for the next two nights. Whilst it was dark outside, the view out of our window was incredible; over the twinkling lights of the Venetian canals towards SS Columbia. Thankfully Evelyn had another trundle bed so we had so much space to stretch out and get some well deserved rest!

DAY ELEVEN – TOKYO DISNEYSEA

Our stay at the Hotel Miracosta included breakfast so we enjoyed a small plate of pastries and eggs and whatnot to fuel ourselves up for the day. The view from the restaurant was out straight into the park where we could see the characters warming up on a boat that was sailing around the inlet. The infamous volcano in the background equally warming up ready to erupt on the hour every hour.

There were a lot more characters wandering around in DisneySea and, as soon as we wandered out from our hotel straight into the park, we immediately met Donald Duck and Minnie Mouse. The Japanese guests, adults, really wanted a photo with Minnie and it seemed to descend into chaos with glorious chanting of Minnie Minnie Minnie. Thankfully Evelyn did manage to get a high five, much more memorable for a toddler!

We spent most of the day in Fantasy Springs save for when our Priority Passes came due for Toy Story Mania and the Tower of Terror. I think I also managed to get onto Soaring solo as Emma wasn’t allowed on that one due to her being pregnant and missed an extra go on the Frozen ride to get the adrenaline pumping on Raging Spirits. Evelyn still talks about me missing that one ride so I could go upside down! Fantasy Springs was as awesome as anticipated and Evelyn absolutely loved it with Rapunzel and Elsa currently being her favourite princesses. The Rapunzel ride was short and sweet yet the lantern festival part was definitely worth it. I have plenty more to say about this area but, for now, I’ll let the photos do the talking!

I must also add that the location of our hotel was unreal; it was part of the park and we could literally nip back to our room in seconds before returning!

DAY TWELVE – TOKYO DISNEYSEA

Our final day in DisneySea meant it was time to focus on some of the other areas in the main park like Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast and American Waterfront. I took Evelyn on Flounder’s Flying Fish Coaster, her first ‘proper’ rollercoaster, and it was a little sketchy. The lapbar only came down as far as me which meant that Evelyn was literally just sat there with no safety at all. I did place my arm in front of her to act as a lapbar as the coaster turned out to be far faster than we anticipated! I kept thinking what on earth do I do if she flies out! Highlights of today included the two storey high Caravan Carousel, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea & Indiana Jones.

I found it a little crazy just how obsessed everyone was with Duffy Bear and friends. We had Duffy themed burgers and spent far too much money on two pretty big teddies; Stella-Lou apparently for Evelyn and Duffy for the baby.

Eventually, we called quits on our time at Tokyo Disney Resort. We were shattered but absolutely full of joy. Though Emma and I couldn’t really bring ourselves to navigate in the dark on the monorail, back to Tokyo Station and then potentially two trains or a train and a lengthy walk all the way to our next hotel, The Prince Park Tower Tokyo Hotel. We flashed the cash and booked an Uber Premium Taxi which, for £46, took us right across the city, right across Rainbow Bridge and to the front door of the hotel where we were greeted immediately. The price vs convenience battle here was just a no brainer. We aren’t backpackers on a budget anymore and I think we would have 100% regretted not paying just £46 for such a lengthy journey. To be frank, I’m not even sure we could have taken the public transport option as Emma and Evelyn might have gone a little overboard with the Disney purchases. In addition to our backpacks, slings, suitcases and stroller, we had now accumulated two full-size reusable shopping bags from Disney overflowing with souvenirs.

Checking into The Prince Park Tower Hotel felt like another world with our room overlooking the beautiful Tokyo Tower. The lights of Tokyo’s skyline never looked so good. I wandered around 20 minutes to what appeared to be the nearest konbini on the map to get some supplies but it later transpired that there was a Lawson in the basement of the hotel. That would have saved my feet!

A detailed review of our stay at The Prince Park Tower Tokyo Hotel is here.

DAY THIRTEEN – TOKYO

Good morning from our beautiful hotel. What a difference a good night sleep makes with no real plans and no urgent rush to get out and explore. Breakfast was a buffet affair up on the top floor with picture perfect views across the city. This was practically perfection after moving hotels so often, we felt like we’d done it, we could relax.

Once we did leave the comfort of the hotel, we wandered north from the hotel through Azabudai Hills (the Mori JP tower is the tallest building in Japan at 325m), through Roppongi up to The National Art Center mainly for a photo op of the stunning architecture. I now need to watch ‘Your Name’ to see what has made this cafe in the National Art Center so popular.

Today we wanted to head to what looked like one of Tokyo’s more chilled neighbourhoods; Nakameguro. I swiftly found that Tokyo is much more than Asakusa, Shibuya and Shinjuku. I could have spend days wandering these quiet streets. We grabbed coffee and cake from one popular cafe, Onibus Coffee, with its first floor views across the railway tracks out of Nakameguro station. Evelyn got 30 minutes or so on the playpark next door where she just got to run around, swing and slide to her hearts content.

We walked from Traveler’s Factory in Nakameguro to Starbucks Reserve Roastery; one of only six roastery’s worldwide. I must admit I’m not really a Starbucks drinker back at home but I was intrigued to visit this purpose built roastery to taste test the coffee or perhaps a cocktail. The place was huge and it quickly got busy as we explored each floor as we approached lunch time. It got far too busy for us so we decided to quit while we were ahead, get a taxi to another sandwich shop that we also aborted and walked into Shibuya for some clothes shopping and Famichiki.

PST Higashi Azabu was a decent looking pizza place that we picked purely out of convenience as it was close to the subway station that we came to when trying to get back to our hotel. Turns out there was a queue for a reason. This wood-fired pizza actually won the accolade of the World’s Best Pizza in Milan and apparently comes highly recommended as the best pizza in Tokyo. There’s a cover charge and that gets you a little shot glass of mushroom soup to kick things off. I chose the Arrabbiata pizza with N’duja, garlic and parsley plus I added homemade pork sausage though I don’t actually think that came. That was washed down with a much deserved beer! Emma’s pick was Margherita so she could share with Evelyn which was really good too.

DAY FOURTEEN – TOKYO

Our final main day in Japan featured another travel day; we had to switch hotels and that meant travelling across the city to Ueno and our last hotel &Here Tokyo Ueno. We chose this hotel purely for its convenient location for the skyliner that would take us straight to the airport. It also meant that we were able to explore the last area of Tokyo that we wanted to see – Asakusa, Senso-ji, Tokyo Skytree and Kappabashi Street.

I went out for a quick photo walk in the rain but didn’t capture anything too inspiring; a classic photo from a staircase under Tokyo Tower and a Japanese man crossing a main road were the picks of the morning.

At checkout time, 12pm, we got a taxi again to save our legs and the faff of walking, catching two trains and navigating stations looking for lifts with all of our belongings. Honestly, taxi fares were entirely reasonable considering across the whole trip and I think this 10km journey cost us around £26 in total. Considering it was door to door, you can’t go wrong with that. We went to Japan with no intention of grabbing taxis for some of the longer distance journeys but it made complete sense; anything that makes life easier with all your luggage and a toddler!

Once we’d checked in and left our luggage behind, it was straight to Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Centre for our first glimpse of Nakamise Shopping Street and Senso-ji. This is the more historic area of Tokyo and features the oldest temple in Tokyo, Senso-ji, that attracts millions of visitors each year. The shopping street that leads up to the temple was a little touristy (we didn’t buy anything) and it was absolutely packed. I have no idea how many people walking straight into the stroller!

Senso-ji is definitely a place that has to be visited in Tokyo. It’s a cultural landmark with plenty of photo opportunities and chances to admire stunning architecture. It is expectedly extremely busy during the day so try and visit morning or evening if your plans allow it. It took me around 30 minutes just to wait for the goshjuin. I can imagine that it’d be so nice to wander around in the morning when there’s a much calmer atmosphere. Just out of the temple grounds, to the west, is Asakusa Kagetsudo Melon Pan which serves up freshly made, warm sweet buns filled with cream for ¥700. Wow, these were delicious.

With it being our last day, we took another taxi to Tokyo Skytree to maximise time. We needn’t have bothered as it took around an extra 30 minutes just to get inside as for no apparent reason Evelyn had another meltdown; she was definitely getting exhausted by now bless her. Travelling Japan is tiring for us adults let alone an almost three year old. Eventually we did get to the top of this absolutely huge tower for, unfortunately for us, average views of Tokyo. The cloud had set in so we weren’t even able to see across to Tokyo Tower let alone Mount Fuji. Still Evelyn somehow enjoyed walking across the glass floor and staring menacingly towards the ground.

Kappabashi Street was next to tick off the list to look for some quirky Japanese kitchenware (I mean I bought one little dish) and a knife. It took a while to find the place that felt ‘right’ but eventually settled on Kamata Hakensha; quality knives, personal service, good prices and free engraving. I wish I could have bought more but one all-purpose knife; ‘Santoku’ meaning a knife of three virtues ie vegetables, fish and meat. I love this knife so much that I can’t bring myself to use it for some reason and it’s still stored in its gift box in my coffee bar! Soon, I keep promising myself.

There was one more purchase to make before we grabbed tea and settled down for the night; a third suitcase. When we upgraded our tickets to include suitcases (I mean why on earth luggage isn’t included on long haul flights with KLM I’ll never know), Evelyn’s ticket also included one but we didn’t need to take one over with us, that would have been a nightmare from the start. Instead we found a relatively cheap place in Ueno that did decent enough looking suitcases and were thrilled to find all of the stuff we bought just about fit into these three large suitcases. Just the small manner of getting to the airport!

We had a bite to eat at a small Korean cafe we found just next to the hotel which was alright. Fried Korean chicken with cheese powder I think, gyozas and a chicken dish with a spicy gochujang sauce and mozzarella (I can’t remember the name sorry). It was really good save for the texture of some of the chicken; honestly I thought I was eating their windpipes. I probably wasn’t right? Dessert came from, you guessed it, Family Mart and we hoped and prayed for one last time that Evelyn would forget her nightly routine of ice cream in bed…

DAY FIFTEEN – DEPARTURE FROM TOKYO

Sadly, our time in Japan was up and, without even having chance to acknowledge that, we were straight back at it eating kombini snacks for breakfast in bed, closing up all three suitcases and attempting what was meant to be a relaxing stroll across to Keisi Ueno Station to catch the Skyliner straight through to Narita Airport. Of course, this was the morning that Evelyn had a typical toddler meltdown and we eventually made it out of the hotel room pretty much all in tears. Perhaps we were all just that upset to be leaving this incredible country behind.

The short stroll also turned out to be disastrous as Evelyn wanted to continue being a big girl and walking to the station. That was dare I say extremely difficult with now three suitcases, three backpacks, slings and a stroller to carry. Of course, within minutes of leaving the hotel, Evelyn tripped over and cut up her elbow, possibly her worst trip in her short lifetime, meaning there were even more tears as we tried our hardest to navigate just one final time.

It was only as we settled on the platform waiting for the Skyliner to arrive, with a warm but not the best Boss vending machine coffee, that I felt I could finally relax. Well, relax in the sense of us being parents now and we still had to check in, grab something to eat and survive two flights home; a 14 hour flight to Amsterdam before a Saturday night flight back to Newcastle. After searching the entire time we were in Japan for a paper crane to buy and take home, I bought something (I can’t remember what now) in a little shop that offered up a basket to take one item for free. Guess what was just sitting there on top as though it was waiting for me; a paper crane. Literally just as we were heading to our gate!

The flight home was difficult, not necessarily for Evelyn, she had a good sleep, but for me as someone decided to recline in the seat in front of me and I had not one second of sleep for the entire 14 hours. I’m not sure I’ll rush back to flying long-haul with KLM, at least not in economy. I didn’t eat properly either as the only choices were, and I kid you not, Mackerel or Tofu. At least there were some stunning views over Greenland to enjoy!

And after one final flight, full of Geordie lads returning from a stag-do in Amsterdam, we were home ready to sleep for days and begin to process what was possibly our favourite ever trip!

FINAL THOUGHTS

I told you that this would be a mammoth blog post didn’t I! Clocking in at over 11,500 words this is without doubt my most comprehensive post I’ve ever written. Probably why it’s taken me six months to write it!

Hopefully you’ve managed to get a really good insight into what travel looks like with a toddler especially 14 nights in Japan. It’s definitely different these days but much more rewarding; seeing Evelyn take everything in her stride at almost three years old made it even more worthwhile. I’m not saying it was easy. I’ve seen it said that you’re literally just paying for the opportunity to deal with tantrums in a different country. There were many times that we just wanted to pack up and head home but I guess that’s parenting. I hope that throughout Evelyn’s childhood (and now with Elise too) we continue to be brave and head out into the world on epic adventures.

If you want to know anything else at all or want to chat travel in Japan or family travel, feel free to get in touch by leaving a comment below!

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